Just saw the preview for the upcoming MAEN Skymaster in case anyone is interested. It is a nice 38mm size and nice options. I purchased their MAEN Hudson (so did @oddboy) and was overall pleased with it. And of course the Hudson i bought from them last year
Not a fan of that grey and red one, but the others are all quite nice! Sky master, eh? The design is very similar to something, but I just can't place it...
I’m not a fan of the gray one as well, but the panda or the reverse is nice. I like the 38mm size which is nice. I am not too familiar with the movement. Anyone on this forum has experience (or a watch) with the ETA 2894-2?
Shame omega couldn't see fit to make the reduced look as good as this here skymaster.. Besides, who actually uses the chrono anyway. Am I right?
Sort of, but yes the same modular construction and the same issues with it. Would be interesting to know if this watch company (never heard of them before) has a service department and if they fully service these. Or is this a KS campaign?
Pretty new company that uses Kickstarter to get out new watches, but is more than just a Kickstarter operation. They have a service center https://www.maenwatches.com/pages/service-center Agreed, I think they would look great on a BOR bracelet.
@Archer, regarding the service center, is your interest in that because they should be accountable for the watches they sell and services these movements can be burdensome? I was sort of thinking that because it's a fairly common movement, that there would be relatively little risk of *their* service department disappearing because you could still have the watch serviced pretty easily. in other words, is it a risk to buy in knowing that it is possible this tiny company could disappear overnight?
The fact is most KS watches are not made by actual watch companies, but are simply ordered out of a catalogue that the makers in China offer, and add a few customized things that jive with the marketing "story" that is put together on KS. These aren't real watch companies in the sense that they even make the watches themselves, or have any watchmakers involved - it's buying and selling slightly customized widgets with a marketing plan. One of the key questions I encourage people to ask these brands is what sort of support they have for their watches. Do they have a service center? Do they even have or will keep spare parts? It's not just the movement - in the future when I crack the crystal, or the crown comes off, is this going to be a watch that has any sort of back-up for it? For the vast majority of these KS watches, the answer is no, they have zero support for the product set-up for the future. In most cases even if the watch you order shows up defective on day one, they can't fix it - they can only offer a replacement. So my questioning of this brand was more in a broad sense than something specific to the movement. For me personally, using KS is sort of a red flag in a way. If you don't have enough confidence in your product or business acumen to get traditional funding, why should I have any confidence in your business? So the last part of your post that I've left up is sort of the issue for me - these ventures by their nature tend to be one offs, and not building anything sustainable, so the chances that there will be any support down the line is slim. Cheers, Al
Curious about how many of the OF members backed this? I’ve been sitting in the fence not sure of the movement choice.
I plan to pick up the Hudson when they are back in stock. I have a Speedmaster and am not looking for another chrono. If the skymaster came on a beads of rice bracelet, I would be very tempted to get the panda. Especially at the preorder price.